Leyland, evidently, was upset there was no warning issued to Sale by the umpire. He was waving his hands in the dugout to suggest so. He then became very angry when tossed from the game, with Putkonen, after the benches cleared for some harmless dancing.

It was ridiculous. Saleís pitch wasnít at Fielderís head. It wasnít above the shoulder. It didnít hit him or force him to dive back in the dirt. The umpires were correct to not issue a warning.

Putkoenen threw behind a batter, which is particularly dangerous because a hitterís initial reaction to inside pitch is move right back into the ball. He earned his ejection.

What was Leyland so upset about? Good question. He didnít address the media after the game.

Perhaps it was leaving in Anibal Sanchez long enough to give up a grand slam to Chicagoís Josh Phegley. The outrage didnít help the Tigersí cause. Phil Coke came into the game in the eighth and allowed an add-on run, which quelled the idea the Tigers would come back.

Coke admitted he was distracted by the incident, but it is minor compared to his 6.18 ERA.

Meanwhile, the Indians beat Toronto. They closed the gap to 2 1-2 games behind the Tigers in the AL Central. Anybody concerned? Not really, huh.

Thatís the point.A couple things:

- There seems to be this need for Leyland to create drama where none is necessary. Itís almost as if he thrives on the recovery from it, like last year when, after nearly a full season as a calm hand at the wheel, he ripped into fans and media about questioning his often bizarre lineups at the time. He was fine from that point forward, and likely will be again after this.

- This incident was a deflector from the real issue of this game and the question that likely would have been the most difficult of all for Leyland to answer: ďWhy did you leave Sanchez in when it was obvious he was laboring?Ē

- Leyland was wrong in Tampa recently to invite attention to his team about high-and-inside pitches to his sluggers. It not only led to the suspension of pitcher Rick Porcello when he retaliated, but teams arenít going to stop throwing inside to the Tigers because of this. They are only going to do so more because it clearly gets under their collective skin. Sale denied he was pitching inside intentionally after the game, but it was certainly effective. He struck out Fielder on two outside breaking balls right after it.

There isnít that much to read into long-term aspect about this game. It was a loss, the second in three games against a struggling and washed out club the Tigers should routinely beat, especially at home. Nothing more. Nothing less.

There is a possibility shortstop Jhonny Peralta will be suspended by MLB for alleged performance enhancing drug use after the All Star break. The Tigers are living on borrowed time with a suspect bullpen. But hitting the panic button is uncalled for.

What the Tigers donít need are silly, self-made distractions, which is exactly what this recent false bravado is. Itís not going to help the Tigers.

It might even hurt them.

Pat Caputo is a senior sports reporter and a columnist for Digital First Media. Contact him at pat.caputo@oakpress.com and read his blog at theoaklandpress.com. You can follow him on Twitter @patcaputo98